Maryland Politics: June, 2011

Prince George's County Council member Leslie Johnson, who is expected to appear in federal court Thursday to face charges of witness tampering and destruction of evidence, set off a flurry of questions Wednesday night when her council office sent out an invitation to a "business card exchange" for residents to meet with county officials who handle small-business issues, and minority contracting.

The Prince George’s County Council is expected to vote in the next few weeks on changes to the tax medallion system that drivers said would undo gains they made last year after a nearly five-year political battle.

Maryland’s GOP chairman said Saturday that voters still have “plenty of good reasons” to vote Republican following the indictments of two people working for the party’s gubernatorial nominee last year.

The latest evidence that Maryland’s 2014 elections are closer than they may appear: House Majority Leader Kumar P. Barve (D-Montgomery) let it be known in an interview Friday that he is considering running for state comptroller.

A senior aide and consultant hired by former Maryland governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) were indicted in a case stemming from thousands of anonymous robocalls placed on election night last year that suggested voters could stay home even though the polls were still open.

Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) is slated to join Vice President Biden at a news conference in Washington on Thursday to talk about strengthening the ability of first-responders and law enforcement officers to communicate with one another.

Many of the leading members of Maryland’s political class — including Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) and Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) — converged Monday morning in a nearly empty warehouse in Howard County to celebrate some federal stimulus funding that is continuing to flow to the state.

The Maryland State Board of Elections said Friday that is looking into concerns about the potential for fraud with the online petition-gathering system being used by opponents of a new law that grants college tuition breaks to in-state illegal immigrants.

Some Maryland lawmakers sought to seize the moment Wednesday as word spread that a drug given to chickens for decades is being pulled off the market after federal scientists found low levels of a potentially carcinogenic form of arsenic in the livers of the animals.

Organizers of an effort to repeal a Maryland law granting college tuition breaks to illegal immigrants appear to have met an initial threshold for collecting enough valid voters signatures to force the issue to a statewide vote.

On Wednesday night, the new Prince George’s County executive dodged hailstones in Upper Marlboro, the Prince George’s county seat, and made his way to the Montgomery County conference center just off Rockville Pike. His goal: to promote Prince George’s.

Organizers of an effort to repeal a Maryland law granting college tuition breaks to illegal immigrants said Tuesday that they are well ahead of pace in collecting enough signatures to force a public vote on the issue.